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McFadden wasn't badly treated. One of the producers - Hurley - fancied her and when she rebuffed him he was...well, not very nice and eventually convinced Gene Roddenberry they needed a new doctor and McFadden should go. Berman was not happy with the decision, but Roddenberry overruled.

Fast forward a year: Hurley's on his way out, Roddenberry has very much taken a back seat, and Berman has the chance to either bring a third doctor in three years in, or ask McFadden to come back.

I understand that Berman got on well with McFadden and so the answer was an obvious one.

IIRC, Gates McFadden took maternity leave. The in-universe story was that Dr. Crusher took over ST Medical. I always liked Pulaski better than Crusher. She was a good foil for Picard and, IMO, made the show much more interesting. From what I remember, the Pulaski character was never meant to be permanent, hence her ultimate sacrifice at the end of season 2.

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“When all Americans are treated as equal, no matter who they are or whom they love, we are all more free.” -Pres. Obama
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Yeah Gates started wearing the doctor's jacket to help hide her bump in season 4 - she wasn't pregnant when she left the first time. Pulaski was fun but I'd have been happier if Crusher had stayed and Pulaski had been brought in as a scientist or chief engineer.

Grace wasn't treated terribly well either and I think her departure was a result of a combination of events including a behind the scenes sexual assault (I'm pretty sure it wasn't GR but she remained tight-lipped about the identity as far as I'm aware) and health issues she was having from drinking too much and taking diet pills. The character would have made a decent recurring guest star but as the principle female lead they piled too much into the early scripts about her and Kirk's mutual attraction so it didn't give them enough wriggle room when it came to his romancing the female alien of the week.

It's more disappointing that she and Majel weren't given more to do in the later movies, which ties directly into them being left out of the recent reboot.

I provided as much sources and links as you did. But if you insist, Gates McFadden's only child was born in 1991, unless she had a three year pregnancy and decided to take her maternity leave a little early she wasn't pregnant during season 2.
Now it's your turn, provide a source that Pulaski wasn't meant to be a permanent character and please explain her ultimate sacrifice, I must have missed that.

From what I remember, the Pulaski character was never meant to be permanent, hence her ultimate sacrifice at the end of season 2.

Diana Muldaur had intended to be retired from acting when Roddenberry persisted that she join the show. She did it as a favour but would not commit to a five-year contract, hence her "Special Appearance by..." credit.

When Season Three was approaching, she requested a leave of absence - the first three episodes of the season - to film "The Return of McCloud" reunion telemovie, but the ST production team was unimpressed. She wasn't under the same contract as the others, so they couldn't prevent her doing it. They decided to let her go completely and recast the CMO.

Rather than create a third CMO, Rick Berman thought that bringing McFadden back would not only right a terrible wrong, it also responded positively to the sizable fan campaign to get her back.

Once Muldaur's telemovie was over, she was offered an ongoing role in "L.A. Law" - as Rosalind Shay - on the strength of her work as Pulaski.

cardinal biggles wrote:

Did I miss the part where Pulaski died to save the crew or something?

It was Rosalind Shay who died in an accidental fall down a turboshaft, not Pulaski.